Method of making shoes



July-l, 1930. c. SIEGFRIED METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed Aug. 18, 1927 A TTORNEY Patented July 1, 1930 PATENT OFFICE CHARLES SIEGFRIEI OF LANCASTER, OHIO METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Application filed August 18, 1927. Serial No. 213,828.

This invention relates broadly to shoe manufacture, and more particularly to a method and means for applying a reinforcing member to the back seam of shoe quarters.

( t has heretofore been customary in the manufacture of shoes to form the back or heel section of the upper portion of the shoe by sewing together the quarter sections, with their wrong or flesh sides exposed outwardly, and thereafter applying a reinforcing strip to the seam by cementing strip material, such as tape, thereto. The sewed section is then folded in the opposite direction, for subsequent'operations. The quarter sections are sewed together along a curved line to give a rounding contour to the heel section of the shoe at the seam, and difficulties have been encountered in applying the tape to this curving seam in such manner as to produce 20 smoothness in the finished article. As the tape is applied to the seam on the flesh sides of the sewed section, while such sides areexposed, upon reversal of the sections along the seam or fold line, for connection to the shoe, wrinkles are formed in the tape, with resultant roughness in the finish.

The present invention has forone of its objects the provision of an improved method of applying a reinforcing tape to the shoe quarters, and a further object is to provide an improved form of apparatus for carrying out the method.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. It is understood that the drawings shown herein do not limit'the invention to any articular form of apparatus, as changes may 0 made in the structure for carrying out the method without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the broader claim. 7 r

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevational view, partially in section, showing a machine for applying tape to shoe quarters in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing parts of the machinein different positions for effect- 0 ing operation on the work; Fig. 3 is a perspectlve view of the shoe quarters sewed toor marring of the leather on the finished side gether, with the flesh side out; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the sewed quarters of Fig. 3 reversed preparatory to the applying of the tape thereto; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view through a portion of the apparatus showing the laying of the tape and attaching of same to the shoe quarters similarly as in Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view or a portion of the finished article.

In accordance with the present invention, I may employ any suitable form of so-called rubbing machine, or similar machine; the apparatus of the invention consisting mainly of attachments found in such types of machines. The invention is illustrated in connection with the well-known Boston seam rubbing machine which comprises such parts as a power shaft 2 which operates, through suitable connections such as cams and eccentrics, to alternately reciprocate and oscillate slide members 3 and 4, which members carry suitable rubbing members or hammers which operate in connection with a roller mandrel 5 for rubbing the curved seam, as is well-known in the art. In the present invention, I substitute presser heads 6 for the ordinary rubbing heads. These heads are sli htly concave on their pressing face, to con cm to the curve of the finished seam circumferentially of the mandrel, and are also slightly curved transversely to conform to the desired contour of the finished article, and also to prevent scoring of the seam.

The tape B which in this instance has an adhesive coating on one side, is fed to the machine through a suitable guide 7 which may be supported from the mandrel post or from the base of the machine, as desired. The guide preferably is formed as a boxlike structure open at both ends and rectangular in cross section, and is adapted to prevent lateral shifting of the tape therein, while per-. mitting the tape to be freely drawn therethrough without curling. The box-like structure of the guide, as more clearly shown in Fig, 5, is positioned so as to lie close to the peripheral surface of the roller mandrel, and is spaced from the vertical center of the mandrel at such distance as to provide only su cient protruding of tape over the mandrel to work parallel with the tape as it moves with the work over the mandrel roll.

the pressers In the operation of the device, the tape is threaded through the guide, adhesive side up,

I claim as my invention l The method of forming the back sections of shoes, which consists in sewing the quarter sections together at one end, on a curving line, flesh side out, pressing an adhesive tape to the sewed section to cover the seam and simultaneously turning the section inside out.

In testimony whereof I the said CHARLES SIEGFRIED have hereunto set 111 hand.

CHARLES S EGFRIED.

to provide an end portion protruding from the guide over the mandrel beneaththe presser heads. The quarters A having been previously sewn together, flesh side out, as shown in Fig. 3, are inserted in the machine, between the tape and the presser heads, with the edges of the sewed seam C facing downwardly towards the mandrel. On the initial stroke of either plunger, the tape is pressed and cemented to the flesh side of the leather along the seam C. The movement of the plungers being first a vertical movement downward which presses the materials together, and on completion of the pressing stroke the presser swings laterally in the direction of the arrow which carries the work forward. The mandrel roll being rotatable and being rounded permits the work to be readily moved forward while maintaining the work in operative position on the roll,

and-the operations to be performed on the curve of the seam, without straining same. In the successive alternate pressing and swinging movements of the presser heads, the work is advanced through the machine, automatically turning the sewed section'as the tape is applied.

The invention also contemplates heating the tape to cause it to soften and adhere to the leather, and to this end the mandrel may be provided with asuitable electric heater, such heater being indicated at 10 and being connected to an electrical source preferably through conductors disposed in the axleof the mandrel as at 11.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a method of applying an adhesive tape to shoe quarters which may be accomplished without the necessity of reversing the sewed section previous to applying the tape thereto, and thus avoid reverse turning of the taped section on completion'of the article.

A further advantage arises in the present method by which I am enabled to apply such tape at a uniform tension, and thus insuring a smooth finish to the completed article, and a still further advantage consists in that the work may be accomplished at a considerable saving in time by reason of elimination of the turmngoperation heretofore required. 

